


On the Subject of Found Family and How to Murder the Bullies Who Hurt Them

by TakingOverMidnight3482



Series: Julie and the Phantoms One-Shots: Ghostly Mishaps [12]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Julie loves her brother so much and i demand more of them, Mention of Death but its canon, Mild Swearing, Reggie is a good big brother, Reggie's Flannel is it's own character at this point, carlos knows about the guys, post season one, the guys would totally haunt anyone who hurt carlos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26963056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TakingOverMidnight3482/pseuds/TakingOverMidnight3482
Summary: His voice crackled, and Reggie got to his feet slowly.Carlos huffed at the lack of response and turned, studying the room until he found the remote where Reggie had dropped it on the floor. As he bent to get it, Reggie caught a glimpse of his face. The tear tracks staining his skin.“Whoa, little dude,” Reggie murmured, despite the fact that Carlos couldn’t hear him. “What’s going on?”
Relationships: Carlos Molina & Reggie
Series: Julie and the Phantoms One-Shots: Ghostly Mishaps [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925116
Comments: 41
Kudos: 805





	On the Subject of Found Family and How to Murder the Bullies Who Hurt Them

**Author's Note:**

> Lowkey goes along with Smells Like Home, but you don't have to read that to get this one!
> 
> Sorry for the lack of fics - I was working nonstop this week and did not have the energy to write almost at all, which sucks because I really enjoy writing for this fandom. Anyway, theres a bunch of Reggie and Ray fics but almost none of any of the guys with Carlos, which stinks because you know that kid would love them once he knew them. 
> 
> Apparently I just like the idea of Reggie sharing his flannel with everyone. It is law. In my stories anyway lol. 
> 
> Note: Carlos knows about the guys in this one, but Ray doesn't yet.

Reggie would never understand how people decided between over 600 television stations. When he was alive, he could barely decide between _50_ , but 600? Half of them in Spanish? He had never felt so indecisive in his entire afterlife.

He was trying to figure out what the heck a “Dive” was (and why this man’s name was literally just…Guy) when the front door slammed open, startling Reggie so badly that the remote slipped out of his fingers and hit the floor.

Ray was out on a photography assignment – a wedding, if Reggie remembered from what he said to Julie that morning. Julie was staying after school with Flynn to help her set up for another dance coming up that Friday (which he and the other guys had ASSURED them they would be at). Alex was with Willie, secretly, at the beach, and Reggie was pretty confident that Luke was hanging around his parents again. Not to mention, none of them would slam the door like that.

And that left…

Carlos stormed into the living room, frowning a little at the television and glancing around the space. His back was to Reggie, but the ghost could see how stiff his shoulders were. “Dad?” he called out hesitantly.

His voice crackled, and Reggie got to his feet slowly.

Carlos huffed at the lack of response and turned, studying the room until he found the remote where Reggie had dropped it on the floor. As he bent to get it, Reggie caught a glimpse of his face. The tear tracks staining his skin.

“Whoa, little dude,” Reggie murmured, despite the fact that Carlos couldn’t hear him. “What’s going on?”

Carlos shut the television off and tossed the remote onto the couch. It bounced a few times, and once it stilled, Carlos just continued to stare at it. Reggie watched in mounting horror as his face crumpled and the kid started crying, his hands trembling and his lip quivering violently.

Reggie searched the room for something, _anything_ , to calm Carlos down. Julie’s brother knew they existed – they’d all been introduced to him the morning after the Orpheum. He was certain Carlos didn’t know he was there. He probably wouldn’t be crying this hard if he did.

In a moment of panic, Reggie shrugged off his flannel and hesitated for only a second before gently easing it over Carlos’ shoulders. To his mild surprise, it stayed, and Carlos jolted as the fabric appeared.

Sure, he could have lifted a pillow or the remote, but Reggie wanted Carlos to know who was there. Who was standing next to him. That he was _there_ , if he needed. Reggie had never had any siblings, but he’d be damned if he didn’t think of Carlos like the little brother he’d never gotten.

“Reggie,” Carlos murmured, gripping at the edges of the flannel with trembling fingers. “I-I didn’t know you were here, I’m s-sorry. Did I shut off your-?”

Reggie tugged quickly on the collar of the flannel, easing in front of Carlos and hoping he could tell he’d moved. “It’s okay, little dude,” he said gently, still aware Carlos couldn’t hear him. He glanced at the backpack on Carlos’ shoulders and jerked on the strap once, lifting it up.

Carlos seemed to get it, shrugging off the bag and handing it over. Reggie took it and started rummaging through the contents, noting that Carlos had wrapped the too-big flannel tightly around his small frame. It made something in Reggie’s chest warm.

He dug out the paper and pencil with triumph, setting the bag down on the ground and tapping the pencil at the empty spot next to him. Carlos sat hesitantly and Reggie leaned as close as he could get without actually phasing into him.

_What happened?_

He tapped the eraser against the words a couple times for emphasis, watching Carlos’ face closely. The kid scowled, tears glinting in his eyes, and then his body slumped, his elbow gliding through Reggie’s hip just enough for him to feel it. “It’s stupid,” he muttered, his grip white on Reggie’s flannel.

 _Not stupid,_ Reggie scribbled, handwriting getting sloppy. _Not if it’s making you this upset._

Carlos swallowed audibly and shrugged, looking down at his fingers. He didn’t speak for a moment, instead slowly sliding his arms through Reggie’s flannel in a way that made Reggie’s throat ache. Carlos twisted his hands together, picking at the buttons on the sleeves. When he finally spoke, his voice was so quiet that Reggie had to lean in.

“Some kids on the bus,” he muttered, dragging his legs up onto the couch and tucking his nose into his knees. “They were making fun of me. That’s all.”

That clearly wasn’t all. Carlos was a confident kid; intelligent, funny, a good brother. Something as small as a couple bullies wouldn’t hinder the kid this badly – at least, Reggie didn’t think they would.

He tapped Carlos lightly with the pencil. _That’s all?_

Carlos buried his face into his knees after reading the question. “Just…the guys from down the street. They were making fun of me about my mom. Saying how she’s just…gone forever. And that I’m never gonna see her again,” he whimpered, and Reggie’s vision went red.

“They were fucking _what?_ ” he snapped.

The pencil cracked in his hand and Carlos jolted, staring at the broken wood with wide eyes. He looked up with the tiniest hint of fear, nearly meeting Reggie’s gaze. “They were just…being assholes,” he whispered, and the tremble in his voice calmed Reggie down. He couldn’t scare Carlos. “I-I know they’re wrong, I mean you guys exist. They wanted to get under my skin and…”

Carlos trailed off with a huff and hugged his knees tighter, turning a blank gaze back to the dark television. “And they did,” he breathed.

Reggie sometimes forgot the kid was only ten. He was so sarcastic and smart, but he was still just a kid. A kid who had lost his mom. Reggie had never really seen Ray or Carlos talk about her, but he assumed they missed her just as much as Julie. He wondered if Julie or Ray knew people were bullying him.

He eased the broken pencil and paper onto the coffee table and turned, wrapping his arms around the youngest Molina and gently bunching the fabric of his flannel where he could. Carlos shivered a little, though if it was from the cold of his ghostly form or a shuddered sob, Reggie couldn’t tell.

“I’m sorry,” Reggie whispered.

He pulled back, letting his grip drift to the cuffs of his flannel and tug on it gently. Carlos sniffed and dragged the heel of his right hand across the tear streaks on his face. “Sorry I…sorry I got your flannel all wet,” he mumbled with a choked laugh. His voice softened and he glanced up to where he thought Reggie was. He was pretty close, only an inch or two off. “I didn’t even know I could touch it.”

Reggie chuckled and reached out, fixing the collar gently and setting his hands on the shoulders. If he concentrated hard enough, his fingers didn’t sink through Carlos’ body. He squeezed, once, with as much power as he could muster, and Carlos jumped, gaze whipping down to where Reggie had his hands.

He pulled back his right hand and fumbled for the broken pencil, keeping his other hand on his shoulder, hoping Carlos could still feel it. _You don’t have to be sorry. You’re allowed to be upset about what those guys said. And it’s just a flannel._

Carlos studied the words for a second. “It’s your flannel,” he said shyly, ducking his head. “Um. Thanks for letting me wear it. It’s really soft.”

Reggie’s lips quirked. Julie had said something similar. _That’s what family’s for._

Carlos didn’t say anything for a long moment. Too long, because the front door opened and both boys jolted, turning on the couch to stare at the entryway. Reggie slipped the pencil and paper back into the bag quickly, but it was only Julie and Flynn, laughing about something he hadn’t heard.

Julie looked up and grinned brightly when she saw them. “Hey guys, what’s-?”

She paused, her mouth dropping a little, and Flynn looked up from her phone at the silence. Their gazes locked on Carlos. “Is that Reggie’s flannel?” Flynn finally asked.

Julie’s eyes shifted, moved to where Reggie’s hand was still resting on Carlos’ shoulder. “Are you _touching him_?” she squawked in surprise.

“The flannel,” Reggie and Carlos chorused at the same time, and Reggie grinned at the startled look on Julie’s face. “He’s touching the flannel,” Carlos finished.

Flynn’s jaw was now also hanging, flickering between Carlos and what Reggie knew she saw as an empty space. Julie, however, had zeroed in on Carlos’ face. “You’re upset,” she said, dropping her bag without a care and moving around the couch at lightning speed. “What’s wrong?”

She knelt in front of her brother, hands on his knees, and Reggie took his hand away. Carlos looked up at the loss of contact. Started to shrug out of the flannel. “You probably-”

“No,” Reggie said softly, looking at Julie. She repeated the command for him, her eyes sparkling in a way he hadn’t seen them sparkle before. “He can keep it as long as he needs.”

Julie repeated that as well, softer, and Carlos shot Reggie a sheepish, grateful smile that said everything he couldn't in that moment, tugging the sleeves down over his fingers. Julie looked over the couch at Flynn, who was standing awkwardly in the entryway, and then to Reggie. She lifted an eyebrow and he stood, grabbing at an extra pencil from Carlos’ bag and offering it to Flynn as he walked over to her.

Flynn’s lips quirked in a smile as she took the other end. “We’ll be in the studio, I guess.”

“Hey Julie?” Reggie said, keeping his voice low even though she was the only one who could hear him. When she looked up, he pressed his lips together tightly. “It’s about your mom,” he told her, watching her gaze soften. “If he tries to say he’s fine.”

“Thanks, Reg.”

~~

An hour later found him and Flynn jamming in the studio. Alex had joined them after his date, and now the three of them were working through a couple of songs Flynn had brought with her to work on while the band rehearsed. She was talented on the keyboard, and she wrote a _ton_ of drum solos, so Alex was having a blast, and Reggie was too. Even though she couldn’t see them, only hear them, she communicated through music just as much as Julie did.

Reggie could see why they were friends.

They had just finished working out the kink on a bridge in a song Flynn called “Against the Grain” when the door to the studio pushed open and Carlos and Julie walked in, Julie’s arm slung around his shoulder. He was still wearing the flannel, Reggie noted as he continued picking at the bass notes.

Alex kept drumming, slower and softer, and Julie laughed. “You guys having fun out here?” she asked with a teasing grin. Reggie could see how her eyes were still rimmed just a little red, but he didn’t say anything.

Flynn’s smile was infectious. “Yes! They helped me figure out the tricky note section in Against the Grain, which means I can _finally_ start recording at home.”

Julie lifted her hand for a high-five and Flynn obliged. “Now whenever Luke decides to-”

“I’m here!” Luke gasped as he popped into the room, already reaching for his guitar. He started playing as he spoke. “Sorry, lost track of time. Flynn and Carlos staying for rehearsal?”

Flynn rolled her eyes. “You already missed _my_ section of rehearsal,” she teased, getting off Julie’s keyboard and moving to the other side of Carlos, replacing Julie’s arm from where it had been resting. Reggie’s heart warmed at the protective stance.

He’d told Alex and Flynn, in not quite so many words as Carlos had, that he’d been upset about his mom. They’d left it at that, hadn’t questioned it, but Luke was now staring at Carlos with a surprised look on his face. “Dude,” he managed as Julie took her place and Carlos and Flynn flopped down onto the couch, pressed to each other’s sides. “Is that your flannel?”

Julie’s fingers danced over the keys and, from Flynn and Carlos’ accompanying grins, Reggie knew they’d all become visible. “Yeah. It’s a fan favorite, apparently.”

Carlos burrowed his nose into the collar, an appreciative smile on his face, and leaned into Flynn as the band started on their rehearsal. Reggie made sure he put extra bounce in his step, extra life in his voice as he sang. Made sure that, by the end of rehearsal, Carlos was on his feet and dancing with Flynn, giggling and being happy like a ten year old should.

When rehearsal had ended, after Carlos had quietly passed the flannel back to Reggie with a soft thanks, and after the Molina kids had gone in for dinner, Reggie turned to his bandmates and clapped his hands, an evil grin sliding over his face.

“You boys up for a haunting? I’ve got a couple bullies in mind that need to be taught a thing or two about ghosts.”

**Author's Note:**

> The bit with Flynn, Reggie, and the pencil was absolutely inspired by SquirrelNo2 so thank you for that lol.


End file.
